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TV's Sham Yankees!

48 photos
May 23, 2012 6:15 PM
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CHICAGO FIRE
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Matt Dinerstein/NBC

Jesse Spencer, Chicago Fire

Fortunately he's had tons of practice with his American accent in House, because now this Australian hottie will be heating up the Windy City as a firefighter.


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Colm Meaney, Hell on Wheels

Building a railroad across the United States? This Irish actor's character has the most American dream and the most American of accents in this epic AMC Western.


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ABC/PATRICK HARBRON)

Rachael Taylor, 666 Park Avenue

The Australian beauty has played a Yankee in her Grey's Anatomy and Charlie's Angels gigs, and will be moving into a spooky Manhattan apartment with her luggage, hot TV boyfriend (played by Dave Annable) and American accent in the fall.


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ABC/SERGEI BACHLAKOV

Radha Mitchell, Red Widow

There's an influx of Aussie actors on TV, but this beauty plays a typical American housewife. Except her family happens to be the Russian Mafia. Plus, her husband is murdered and she has to take on his role in organized crime to protect her family. An accent would just confuse the issue.


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ABC/RANDY HOLMES

Josh Bowman, Revenge

He does such a convincing privileged Hamptonite, so you may never have realized that this British-born actor's American accent is as real as his revenge-seeking fiancée's cover story.


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Lauren Cohan, The Walking Dead

This U.S.-born actress was raised in the U.K. and in real life sounds just as British as her zombie-killing costar Andrew Lincoln.


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Jordin Althaus/SHOWTIME

Josh Lawson, House of Lies

He may play the Harvard-educated Doug Guggenheim on House of Lies, but Lawson is actually a dyed-in-the-wool Aussie. G'day mate!


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Joel Kinnaman, The Killing

That's right, the man who plays street-smart Det. Stephen Holder on AMC's polarizing The Killing grew up in Sweden. The keys to his accent? Being bilingual in Swedish and English, having an American father and spending a year in Texas as a teenager. All solid strategies, we think!


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Lewis Jacobs/NBCJason Isaacs

Jason Isaacs, Awake

The British actor plays an American cop in both of his characters' realities in NBC's sci-fi procedural. While filming, Isaacs (who also played Harry Potter's Lucius Malfoy) told us, "The only time I drop [the American accent] is when my wife calls, because she refuses to talk to me in what she calls 'that stupid voice.'"


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Kent Smith/SHOWTIME

Damian Lewis, Homeland

The Life and Band of Brothers star is back in American uniform again in Showtime's new psychological thriller...but is the British actor playing a hero or a terrorist?


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Scott Garfield/TWD Productions LLC

Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead

"I learned the accent with a voice coach," the sexy Brit told us about his zombie killer's charming Southern drawl. "Do I think I nailed it? That's up to you, to the audience. You tell me."

Are you convinced? Vote now!


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AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Hugh Laurie, House

The British actor has scored two Golden Globes for his convincing portrayal of a cantankerous (and crazy?) American doc. He also employs his musical talents to pay tribute to our great country.


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Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

He just nabbed a Guest Actor Emmy nomination for his role on The Good Wife, but the Scottish actor is so convincing as American image consultant Eli Gold that he'll be a regular on the acclaimed series' sophomore season.


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HBO/Steven Lippman

Ryan Kwanten, Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer, True Blood

An Aussie, a Kiwi and a Brit play a trio of vampy Southerners.


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Owain Yeoman & Simon Baker, The Mentalist

A Welshman and an Aussie portray American sleuths working for the California Bureau of Investigation.


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Sonja Flemming/CBS

Alex O'Loughlin, Hawaii Five-0

This dude from Down Under must really like hanging out up above. Now starring as Steve McGarrett in the CBS reboot of the 50th state detective series, he's also played Americans in Three Rivers, Moonlighting and The Shield.


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Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Anna Torv, Fringe

The actress who plays FBI agent Olivia Dunham is hiding a secret of her own: She's really Australian!


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Matthew Imaging/Getty Images

Toni Collette, United States of Tara

The Academy Award-nominated Aussie snagged an Emmy for her star turn as a suburban homemaker with multiple personalities—all of them American.


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ABC/ERIC MCCANDLESS

Kevin McKidd, Grey's Anatomy

The latest McDoc, an American soldier with PTSD, is a Scotsman who also starred as the time-traveling San Francisco reporter in Journeyman.


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NBC Photo: Jordin Althaus

Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck

Fortunately, NBC picked up the Aussie actress's show for another season. Unfortunately, our Subway sandwiches don't come with Vegemite.


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PacificCoastNews.com

Ed Westwick, Gossip Girl

Chuck Bass is a quintessential Yankee snob, but could anyone other than a Brit wear his wardrobe so well?


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Rose Byrne, Damages

The Sydney native holds her own as an Ivy League law school protegée—and Emmy winner Glenn Close's strongest adversary—on FX's hit legal thriller.


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FX Network

Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy

Who better to lead a badass biker gang than...an Englishman? Yep, this modern-day James Dean warrior once starred in Nicholas Nickleby.


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Gabrielle Anwar, Burn Notice

As Michael Westen's ex-girlfriend, the English actress tried out an Irish accent to play former IRA operative Fiona. But after the first few eps, Mike's trigger-happy partner "pretended" to use an American accent instead. Much better, no?


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